Soyuz TMA-15M

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2014 Russian crewed spaceflight to the ISS

Mission typeISS crew transport

COSPAR ID2014-074A

Soyuz TMA-15M
Spacecraft properties
Soyuz TMA-15M undocks from the ISS, 11 June 2015.

Mission type	ISS crew transport
Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2014-074A
SATCAT no.	40312
Mission duration	199d 16h 42m 46s


Spacecraft	Soyuz 11F732A47 No.715
Spacecraft type	Soyuz TMA-M 11F747
Manufacturer	Energia


Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Anton Shkaplerov Samantha Cristoforetti Terry W. Virts, Jr.
Callsign	Астрей ("Astraeus")


Start of mission
Launch date	23 November 2014 21:00:14 UTC
Rocket	Soyuz-FG
Launch site	Baikonur 31/6


End of mission
Landing date	11 June 2015 13:44 UTC^[1]


Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth


Docking with ISS
Docking port	Rassvet nadir
Docking date	24 November 2014 02:49 UTC
Undocking date	11 June 2015 10:20 UTC
Time docked	199 days, 7 hours, 31 minutes

(l-r) Shkaplerov, Cristoforetti and Virts Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) ← Soyuz TMA-14M Soyuz TMA-16M →

Soyuz TMA-15M was a 2014 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 42 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-15M was the 124th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching in 1967. The Soyuz remained docked to the space station for the Expedition 43 increment, serving as an emergency escape vehicle until departing and returning to Earth as scheduled in June 2015. The European segment of the mission was called "Futura".^[2]

Backup crew


Position^[3]	Crew Member
Commander	Anton Shkaplerov, Roscosmos Expedition 42 Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1	Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA Expedition 42 First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2	Terry W. Virts, Jr., NASA Expedition 42 Second and last spaceflight


Position^[4]	Crew Member
Commander	Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 1	Kimiya Yui, JAXA
Flight Engineer 2	Kjell N. Lindgren, NASA

Mission highlights

Launch, rendezvous and docking

Soyuz TMA-15M launched successfully aboard a Soyuz-FG rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 21:01 UTC on Sunday, 23 November 2014. The spacecraft reached low Earth orbit approximately nine minutes after lift-off. After executing rendezvous maneuvers, the Soyuz docked with the International Space Station at 02:49 UTC on 24 November, with hatch opening occurring at 05:00 UTC.^[5]

Soyuz TMA-15M was scheduled to remain docked to the ISS—serving as an emergency escape vehicle, planned to be on-board until May 2015. The landing was delayed until June 2015,^[1] when it was set to depart and return Shkaplerov, Cristoforetti and Virts to Earth.

Cristoforetti commemorated the spaceflight by gifting three Lego minifigures of herself, Virts and Shkaplerov to the other members of the Expedition 42 crew. They had been commissioned by ESA and built by a British custom Lego kitmaker.^[6]

Undocking and return to Earth

Soyuz TMA-15M accidentally fired its engines one day before undocking. The one minute burn slightly shifted ISS position.

Soyuz TMA-15M undocked from the ISS at 10:20 UTC on 11 June 2015, containing Shkaplerov, Cristoforetti, and Virts. Following a deorbit burn, the Soyuz spacecraft's descent module reentered the Earth's atmosphere. The crew landed safely in Kazakhstan at 13:44 UTC on 11 June, just over three hours after departing the ISS.

Gallery

Rollout of Soyuz TMA-15M rocket.
Soyuz TMA-15M on the launch pad after rollout.
Crew of Soyuz TMA-15M wave to spectators before launch.
Soyuz TMA-15M launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
TMA-15M lands in Kazakhstan.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soyuz TMA-15M.

1 2 NASA (2015). "International Space Station Partners Adjust Spacecraft Schedule".
↑ "Futura". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-02-13.
↑ Планируемые полёты (in Russian). astronaut.ru. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
↑ astronaut.ru (2013). "Орбитальные полёты".
↑ Clark, Stephen. "Live coverage: US-Russian-Italian crew set for Soyuz launch". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
↑ "Astronauts get their own LEGO minifigures on space station". collectSPACE.com. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2023.

Spaceflight portal

Soyuz programme

List of Soyuz missions
List of Soviet human spaceflight missions
List of Russian human spaceflight missions

Main topics

Soyuz (rocket family)
Soyuz (spacecraft)
Baikonur Cosmodrome
- Site 1/5
- Site 31/6
Soyuz abort modes
Cosmonaut ranks and positions

Past missions
(by spacecraft type)

Soyuz 7K-OK (1966–1970)	Kosmos 133† Soyuz 7K-OK No.1† (uncrewed) Kosmos 140 Soyuz 1† Kosmos 186 188 212 213 238 Soyuz 2 (uncrewed) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Soyuz 7K-L1 (1967–1970) (Zond lunar programme)	Kosmos 146 154† Zond 1967A† 1967B† Zond 4 1968A† 1968B† 5 6 1969A† Zond-M 1† M 2† Zond 7 8 9 10
Soyuz 7K-L1E (1969–1970)	Soyuz 7K-L1E No.1† Kosmos 382
Soyuz 7K-LOK (1971–1972)	Soyuz 7K-LOK No.1† No.2†
Soyuz 7K-OKS (1971)	Soyuz 10† 11†
Soyuz 7K-T (1972–1981)	Kosmos 496 573 Soyuz 12 Kosmos 613 Soyuz 13 Kosmos 656 Soyuz 14 15† 17 18a† 18 20 (uncrewed) 21 23† 24 25† 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 (uncrewed landing) 33† 34 (uncrewed launch) 35 36 37 38 39 40
Soyuz 7K-TM (1974–1976)	Kosmos 638 672 Soyuz 16 19 (Apollo–Soyuz) 22
Soyuz 7K-S (1974–1976)	Kosmos 670 772† 869†
Soyuz-T (1978–1986)	Kosmos 1001† 1074 Soyuz T-1 (uncrewed) T-2 T-3 T-4 T-5 T-6 T-7 T-8† T-9 T-10a† T-10 T-11 T-12 T-13 T-14 T-15
Soyuz-TM (1986–2002)	Soyuz TM-1 (uncrewed) TM-2 TM-3 TM-4 TM-5 TM-6 TM-7 TM-8 TM-9 TM-10 TM-11 TM-12 TM-13 TM-14 TM-15 TM-16 TM-17 TM-18 TM-19 TM-20 TM-21 TM-22 TM-23 TM-24 TM-25 TM-26 TM-27 TM-28 TM-29 TM-30 TM-31 TM-32 TM-33 TM-34
Soyuz-TMA (2002–2012)	Soyuz TMA-1 TMA-2 TMA-3 TMA-4 TMA-5 TMA-6 TMA-7 TMA-8 TMA-9 TMA-10 TMA-11 TMA-12 TMA-13 TMA-14 TMA-15 TMA-16 TMA-17 TMA-18 TMA-19 TMA-20 TMA-21 TMA-22
Soyuz-TMA-M (2010–2016)	Soyuz TMA-01M TMA-02M TMA-03M TMA-04M TMA-05M TMA-06M TMA-07M TMA-08M TMA-09M TMA-10M TMA-11M TMA-12M TMA-13M TMA-14M TMA-15M TMA-16M TMA-17M TMA-18M TMA-19M TMA-20M
Soyuz MS (2016–present)	Soyuz MS-01 MS-02 MS-03 MS-04 MS-05 MS-06 MS-07 MS-08 MS-09 MS-10† MS-11 MS-12 MS-13 MS-14 (uncrewed) MS-15 MS-16 MS-17 MS-18 MS-19 MS-20 MS-21 MS-22 (uncrewed landing) MS-23 (uncrewed launch) MS-24 MS-25 MS-26 MS-27

Current missions

MS-28

Future missions

2026
- MS-29
2027
- MS-30
- MS-31

Uncrewed missions are designated as Kosmos instead of Soyuz; exceptions are noted "(uncrewed)".
The † sign designates failed missions. Italics designates cancelled missions.

v t e Human spaceflights to the International Space Station
See also: ISS expeditions, Uncrewed ISS flights
1998–2004	1998 STS-88 1999 STS-96 2000 STS-101 106 92 Soyuz TM-31 STS-97 2001 STS-98 102 100 Soyuz TM-32 STS-104 105 Soyuz TM-33 STS-108 2002 STS-110 Soyuz TM-34 STS-111 112 Soyuz TMA-1 STS-113 2003 Soyuz TMA-2 TMA-3 2004 Soyuz TMA-4 TMA-5	International Space Station Emblem
2005–2009	2005 Soyuz TMA-6 STS-114 Soyuz TMA-7 2006 Soyuz TMA-8 STS-121 115 Soyuz TMA-9 STS-116 2007 Soyuz TMA-10 STS-117 118 Soyuz TMA-11 STS-120 2008 STS-122 123 Soyuz TMA-12 STS-124 Soyuz TMA-13 STS-126 2009 STS-119 Soyuz TMA-14 TMA-15 STS-127 128 Soyuz TMA-16 STS-129 Soyuz TMA-17
2010–2014	2010 STS-130 Soyuz TMA-18 STS-131 132 Soyuz TMA-19 TMA-01M TMA-20 2011 STS-133 Soyuz TMA-21 STS-134 Soyuz TMA-02M STS-135 Soyuz TMA-22 TMA-03M 2012 Soyuz TMA-04M TMA-05M TMA-06M TMA-07M 2013 Soyuz TMA-08M TMA-09M TMA-10M TMA-11M 2014 Soyuz TMA-12M TMA-13M TMA-14M TMA-15M
2015–2019	2015 Soyuz TMA-16M TMA-17M TMA-18M TMA-19M 2016 Soyuz TMA-20M MS-01 MS-02 MS-03 2017 Soyuz MS-04 MS-05 MS-06 MS-07 2018 Soyuz MS-08 MS-09 MS-10† MS-11 2019 Soyuz MS-12 MS-13 MS-15
2020–2024	2020 Soyuz MS-16 SpaceX Demo-2 Soyuz MS-17 SpaceX Crew-1 2021 Soyuz MS-18 SpaceX Crew-2 Soyuz MS-19 SpaceX Crew-3 Soyuz MS-20 2022 Soyuz MS-21 Axiom-1 SpaceX Crew-4 Soyuz MS-22 SpaceX Crew-5 2023 Soyuz MS-23 SpaceX Crew-6 Axiom-2 SpaceX Crew-7 Soyuz MS-24 2024 Axiom-3 SpaceX Crew-8 Soyuz MS-25 Boeing CFT Soyuz MS-26 SpaceX Crew-9
Since 2025	2025 SpaceX Crew-10 Soyuz MS-27 Axiom-4 SpaceX Crew-11 Soyuz MS-28 2026 SpaceX Crew-12
Future	2026 Soyuz MS-29 Boeing Starliner-2 2027 Soyuz MS-30
Individuals	List of ISS visitors crew
Vehicles	Past Space Shuttle Present Boeing Starliner Crew Dragon Soyuz
Ongoing spaceflights are in underline † - mission failed to reach ISS

v t e ← 2013 Orbital launches in 2014 2015 →
January	GSAT-14 Thaicom 6 CRS Orb-1 (Flock-1 × 28, ArduSat-2, Lituanica SAT-1, LitSat-1, SkyCube, UAPSat-1) TDRS-L
February	Progress M-22M ABS-2, Athena-Fidus Türksat 4A USA-248 GPM Core, Ginrei, KSAT-2, INVADER, OPUSAT, STARS-II, TeikyoSat-3, ITF-1
March	Ekspress AT1, Ekspress AT2 Astra 5B, Amazonas 4A Kosmos 2494 Soyuz TMA-12M Shijian XI-06
April	USA-249 / DMSP-5D3 F19 Sentinel-1A IRNSS-1B Progress M-23M Ofek-10 USA-250 EgyptSat 2 SpaceX CRS-3 (KickSat) Luch 5V, KazSat-3
May	Kosmos 2495 Ekspress AM4R USA-251 USA-252 Kosmos 2496, Kosmos 2497, Kosmos 2498, Kosmos 2499 ALOS-2, Raijin-2, UNIFORM-1, SOCRATES, SPROUT Eutelsat 3B Soyuz TMA-13M
June	Kosmos 2500 / GLONASS-M 755 AprizeSat 9, AprizeSat 10, BRITE-Montreal, BRITE-Toronto, BugSat 1, Deimos-2, Hodoyoshi 3, Hodoyoshi 4, KazEOSat 2, Perseus-M1, Perseus-M2, SaudiSat-4, TabletSat-Aurora, UniSat-6 (Lemur-1, Tigrisat), Flock-1c × 11 SPOT 7, CanX-4, CanX-5
July	OCO-2 Gonets-M × 3 Meteor-M No.2 O3b × 4 CRS Orb-2 (Flock-1b × 28, TechEdSat-4) Orbcomm-OG2 × 6 Foton-M No.4 Progress M-24M USA-253 / GSSAP 1, USA-254 / GSSAP 2, USA-255 / ANGELS Georges Lemaître ATV
August	USA-256 AsiaSat 8 Yaogan 20 A, B, C WorldView-3 Gaofen 2, Heweliusz Galileo FOC-1, Galileo FOC-2
September	Chuangxin 1-04, Lingqiao AsiaSat 6 Yaogan 21, Tiantuo 2 MEASAT 3b, Optus 10 USA-257 SpaceX CRS-4 Soyuz TMA-14M Olimp-K Shijian XI-07
October	Himawari 8 IRNSS-1C ARSAT-1, Intelsat 30 Yaogan 22 Ekspress AM6 Chang'e 5-T1, 4M Shijian 11-08 Cygnus CRS Orb-3† (Arkyd-3†, Flock-1d × 26†) Progress M-25M USA-258 / GPS IIF 8 Meridian 7
November	Sasuke, Hodoyoshi 1, Kinshachi 1, Tsukushi, TSUBAME Yaogan 23 Yaogan 24 Kuaizhou 2 Soyuz TMA-15M Kosmos 2501
December	Hayabusa2, PROCYON, Shinen 2, DESPATCH Orion EFT-1 DirecTV-14, GSAT-16 CBERS-4 Yaogan 25 A, B, C USA-259 Yamal-401 O3b × 4 (FM9 to FM12) Kondor-E No.2 IPM Kosmos 2502 Resurs-P No.2 Yaogan 26 Astra 2G Fengyun 2-08
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).

Launch, rendezvous and docking

Undocking and return to Earth

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